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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26140432">Guardian Angel</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsFall/pseuds/dragonsFall'>dragonsFall</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mutants [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ace has fifty questions, Ace has no mutant abilities, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Journalist Ace, M/M, Marco just has wings and a healing factor, Protectiveness, Vigilante Marco, Walking Home</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:40:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,518</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26140432</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsFall/pseuds/dragonsFall</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the interview, Ace never thought he would see The Phoenix again. Life is full of little surprises. He can say for sure that these surprises aren't unwelcome.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mutants [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>84</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Guardian Angel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ace offered a wave to his office buildings security guard before he stepped out into the chilly night air. He suppressed a shiver as he turned to start walking home. With how late it was, the streets were practically a ghost town. The raven-haired man had stayed late to finish up a story with a rapidly approaching deadline. He was lucky his boss wasn’t getting on his ass about it. Then again, he seemed to have pulled back since Ace had managed to get an impossible interview done. His mind strayed to the blond that had come into his work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wanted to know who exactly he was and what the hell he was doing at his work. The man didn’t work there so there wasn’t a reason for him to be in their workspace. Ugh. Ace wished he had paid more attention outside of noticing the ‘yoi’ the guy had added to the end of his sentence. But he had been caught so off guard because it was the same thing The Phoenix did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ace was snapped out of his pondering when he felt eyes boring into his back along with the feeling that he was being followed. He’s felt it before. This would be the third time it’s happened. Each time, he was lucky they didn’t have anything worse than a knife. Ace was perfectly capable of defending himself if push came to shove. And if they wanted a fight then Ace wouldn’t be backing down. He would pause in his footsteps, ready to turn around to confront the person that was following him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he felt a sudden breeze which made him shiver, heard the flap of wings then the tap of sandals against the sidewalk as the man he had interviewed landed a short distance away from him. Wings already folding to tuck close to his back. With the sudden appearance of The Phoenix, his pursuer lost interest and quickly began to walk away. Likely not wanting to invoke his wrath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Ace could say anything about being able to handle the situation himself, The Phoenix spoke. “Why don’t we walk together, yoi? It’s a nice night”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without really thinking about it, Ace nodded. The guy was here. He was offering so he might as well accept. Maybe he could try to figure out if he and the blond guy from the office were the same people. They would continue in silence which Ace would eventually break.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… Since you saved me, does that make you my guardian angel?” Asked Ace, briefly glancing at The Phoenix. He looked about the same as he remembered him. Except his jacket looked thicker. It would make sense considering that the weather was getting colder. God. Ace wished he had remembered his jacket. Stupid Sabo, rushing them all out because he thought they would be late.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The freckled man took it as a good sign when his stupid joke managed to pull a laugh from the stoic Phoenix. Even better when he saw a soft smile settle on what he could see of that handsome face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was just passing by when I saw you, yoi” Informed The Phoenix, “Just doing my job”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Suuure,” Ace said, not entirely convinced that was the case. Usually, once the issue was taken care of, heroes were gone. They fell into another silence which would be broken by Ace yet again. He wanted to confirm his suspicions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, you say that a lot. Yoi. What does that even mean?” Ace asked. He felt the Phoenix's eyes on him even if they were hidden behind his mask. Wasn’t the guy worried about running into something? Ace knew he would be. He’s done it before. Particularly when fighting with Luffy and walking at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t mean anything. Just a bad habit I picked up as a kid, yoi. Stuck ever since. Is this another interview?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I guess that makes sense. You know, you should suppress it if you’re going to talk to the journalist who interviewed you while not dressed up” Ace hesitated a moment, not wanting to admit that he was curious about who the Phoenix was outside of the questions asked during the interview. He wanted to know the man behind the vigilante. “Well no… Just curious”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re the only one I’ve talked to, yoi. Generally don’t talk much while flying around” Explained the winged man. “I’ll answer your questions”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ace was surprised, to say the least. Plus, he just got confirmation that the blond man in the office and the vigilante were the same people. He had expected him to tell him to stop asking questions. Hell, he was still questioning why The Phoenix had even agreed to it in the first place. And now he was here asking questions like he wanted to get to know him. A shiver went through Ace. Looked like the wind was picking up. Horrible. The freckled man scowled at the weather. He much preferred warmer temperatures. And there was still a bit of a way to go to get home. His brothers would be in bed by the time he got there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cold?” Asked The Phoenix</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. I’ll be fine though. Like I would’ve been in that fight you prevented” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Phoenix shook his head at that then despite Ace saying that he would be okay, started to remove the jacket he wore. Once it was off, he offered it out to the dark-haired man. Ace hesitated then accepted it. No sense in refusing an offer and he doubted The Phoenix would take it back. “You don’t need to be getting into fights, yoi. Not with someone that had a gun”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh. So that’s why he had swooped in. He could be a little grateful for that. His brothers could be too. Sabo would’ve kicked his ass for getting shot. Then Luffy would’ve clung to him like he was about to keel over at any moment. If he survived. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he died.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ace pulled on the jacket which was a little big on him. Not overly so considering they seemed to be close in build but the man was taller. It was warm and had the distinct scent of something tropical. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> He glanced over briefly to see that The Phoenix wore a dark shirt under his jacket. And upon closer inspection, it looked like it had some sort of symbol on it. A cross with a mustache? That’s what it looked like from this angle. As he watched, the mask was removed revealing the same man he had seen in his office. Of course, he already knew that though. The taloned gloves were removed as well and around one wrist, there was a watch of some sort.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Phoenix brought up the wrist with the watch, clicking something along the side. In an instant, those brilliant azure and gold wings vanished. Ace couldn’t hide his surprise. Oh. So that’s how no one had figured it out yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without thinking about it, he reached out with one hand, making contact with invisible feathers. They felt… soft? Was that the right way to put it? Feeling the whole wing as compared to a single feather was different and it had tensed under his touch. He realized what he had done and quickly withdrew his hand. Ace wanted to ask how he did it but it seemed like The Phoenix already knew what he wanted to ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Image inducer” The man explained. Which was all he had to say. Many mutants with not so human features had them just so they could go out without fear of being attacked. Ace knew that his brother had thought about getting one when they were younger because of the scarring that covered one side of his body. But he decided not to as others needed it more than him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ace realized that they were getting close to his apartment complex. Damn. Maybe they would meet again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… Can I have a name to call you by other than The Phoenix?” Asked the freckled man, focusing on finding the keys so he could unlock the gate. By the time Ace found them, he had answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marco, yoi”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marco, huh? It was a nice name. Marco The Phoenix. It was not surprising when the blond man walked him to his apartment. Ace got the feeling that he was the protective type. Like a big brother. Like him when it came to his own two brothers. Did that mean that Marco had siblings? Maybe. He wasn’t about to ask tonight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I guess you need this back” Ace had started to remove the jacket but Marco shook his head at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Keep it, yoi. I’ll take it back when we meet again”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘When we meet again’ That meant that The Phoenix wanted to see him again. Ace watched the man walk away then quickly shook his head before turning to let himself into the apartment. He’d be lying if he said those words weren’t doing something to his heart.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Want to request a fic? Feel free to contact me on my Tumblr: clockworkPanic</p></blockquote></div></div>
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